Bishop Brute was a multi-talented individual. Obviously he was a theologian and before being named Bishop of Vincennes, he served as a theological resource for the Archbishop of Baltimore. Of course, we also know that he was a physician.
It has been known that he liked to do sketches. There are a number of sketches that were done by him, but I recently obtained some from a member of the Brute family 1 — his ancestors, still in France, who are doing their part to make Bishop Brutés holiness, talent and his name known to many.
The sketch here, 
is of Francis Charles Nagot, the first president and rector of Saint Mary’s Seminary in Baltimore. Like Brute, Nagot was a member of the Sulpicians.
Nagot was born in Tours, France, on April 19, 1734. He taught in the Sulpician seminaries in France. In 1791 he was sent by the Sulpician superior to found a seminary in Baltimore. He took seven Sulpicians with him. The seminary in Baltimore struggled for a number of years. Simon Brute was sent there in 1810 and he taught for two years before going to Mount Saint Mary’s in Emmitsburg. He returned to Baltimore for a short time in 1815 as president of the college at Baltimore. It as after Nagot’s death on April 9, 1816 that Brute would have done this sketch.
The text reads (loose translation): First superior of the St. Sulpice Seminary in Baltimore (Maryland, United States of America). Born in Tours in 1734 – he came in Baltimore in 1791 – there he died in 1816 – we have several works (books) from him. He is buried behind the College’s chapel.
(You can click on the image to enlarge it).
- [Véronique Roque (Brute de Rémur)][↩]
